BLM breaks rule of Law making extinction all but inevitable for Wild Horses and BurrosA Meat and Dairy Industries Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Despite the reported number of horses in
captivity (46,000) to date, large numbers of horses have mysteriously
disappeared from the holding pens or during transports where they never
arrived. And it appears that taxpayer money has been wasted by the BLM, at
the expense of the wild horses and burros the BLM is supposed to protect.

PINEHURST, Texas, July 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Wild Horse Freedom
Federation, Inc. (WHFF), today released its white paper, “Bureau of Land
Management’s Wild Horse & Burro Program, with a Focus on Problems Related to
Holding Facilities.” America’s wild horses and burros – long a national
treasure and symbol of freedom – are endangered and being pushed towards
extinction, despite the Trump administration’s promise to uphold the rule of
law.

The comprehensive white paper cites taxpayer waste and multitudes of
inconsistencies in documentation presented to both the American public and
Congress. These alleged offenses continue to occur under the direction of
Trump-appointed Secretary of the Department of Interior (DOI), Ryan Zinke.

WHFF’s document notes current and historical violations that include
evidence of misrepresentation, wasting taxpayer funds, and lack of
scientific accounting for the wild horses and burros — in absolute defiance
of the Congressional statute that provides for the safety of the iconic wild
herds.

The five-year investigation culminating in the document has uncovered a
consistent pattern of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) releasing
misinformation thought to confuse and mislead the American taxpaying public
and legislators.

For years, the BLM has taken healthy wild horses and burros from their
legally protected lands in the American West at the expense of taxpayers.
Notably, on those lands, the cost to taxpayers was nothing, yet the BLM
roundups have continued, taking tens of thousands of wild horses into
captivity. Despite the reported number of horses in captivity (46,000) to
date, large numbers of horses have mysteriously disappeared from the holding
pens or during transports where they never arrived. And it appears that
taxpayer money has been wasted by the BLM, at the expense of the wild horses
and burros they are supposed to protect.

WHFF’s FOIA obtained documentation on this topic, many of which have
never been reviewed by Congress or the public, appear to verify that BLM
statements are filled with inaccuracies and poor math. The beneficiaries of
this systemic misrepresentation have been ranching and corporate energy
interests, both of whom, not surprisingly, are major donors to politicians
who cover the areas where the most wild horses and burros are found.

Despite a strident outcry from American taxpayers who want, as the law
requires, the horses and burros protected and returned to their rightful
place on public lands, the BLM has repeatedly asserted to America that the
wild horses and burros need to be under its care. In the last century, the
wild horse population has gone from two million to less than 36,000 under
BLM management. Less than two out of 100 wild horses that were present then
remain in 2017.

WHFF’s white paper details multiple examples of mishandling of taxpayer
funds, but the upshot is simple: alleged false assurances have been offered
up to taxpayers while private and special interests have had their way with
the use of public lands. In another words, the BLM is the fox that guards
the henhouse, seemingly unwilling to enforce the laws that obligate them to
protect wild horses and burros.

“The DOI and the BLM have undertaken a long term ‘Fake News’ campaign to
spread misinformation to confuse the issue. They want the wild horses and
burros slaughtered, gone, full stop. Americans are not going to stand for
that,” says Wild Horse Freedom Federation’s President R.T. Fitch. “It
appears that President Trump appointed a long time horse slaughter proponent
to oversee the DOI and his first major act could be to kill tens of
thousands of wild horses and burros making this White Paper a timely must
read for all Americans.” he continued.

This is paramount in importance right now for the wild horses and burros
and American taxpayers. In the coming days the Senate Appropriations
Committee will take up the Interior appropriations bill, which includes the
Wild Horse and Burro Program with the threat of killing wild horses and
burros touted as a budgetary necessity. Without intervention, for the rising
generations of America, wild horses and burros will be gone forever.

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